With chains such as Domino's, Taco Bell, Subway and Arby's spending millions of dollars in advertising to redefine their brands as "fresh" or "artisan," Slate poses the question, "what does fresh even mean."

"Today, the fast-food universe’s usage of fresh has nothing to do with the textbook definition of the word. In most ways, fresh has nothing to do with food at all. It's become a convolution, tied up with manufactured images of authenticity, transparency, and even morality—the fleeting ecstasy of doing what consumers are persuaded to believe is the good, right thing."

The fast food marketing seems to be working. Per slate, since launching their "Oh yes we did" recipe-retooling campaign, Domino's has seen a 13.4 percent uptick in same-store sales. Working behind their "Eat Fresh" tagline, Subway has overtaken McDonald's as the world's largest fast food chain.

Of course, as this 1979 Taco Bell ad demonstrates, marketing fast food as "fresh" is hardly new. Of course, back then, the taco giant actually received shipments of never-frozen ground beef each day, cleaned and chopped lettuce, tomatoes and onions on site and grated cheese each morning.

In it, Reichl talks openly about leaving Gilt Taste ("it was very disappointing"), current Times restaurant critic Pete Wells ("he’s not a snob, which is rare among critics") and an upcoming book about her time as high-on-the-hog Editor in Chief of Gourmet magazine ("when I traveled, I wouldn’t even know where I was going. My secretary would tell my driver which airport to take me to, and then she would hand me a folder with my itinerary.").

Tony Two-Times: Where does Anthony Bourdain find the time? In the past year, the "No Reservations" star, who still writes regularly for publications such as Lucky Peach, announced an upcoming move to CNN; launched a new cooking competition, "The Taste;" and is working on an upcoming book line.

Now comes news that Bourdain will produce a new show for Esquire TV (the one-time G4 channel). That show, "The Getaway," will feature "travel-loving, well known personalities – people deservedly famous for excellence in their fields – who take viewers to their favorite city on the planet, giving the insiders' track on their top spots to eat, drink, shop and hang out." (h/t Eater)